Nut-cracker



UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIcE.

LYMAN A. CLARK, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

NUT-CRACKER.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 26,885, dated January 24., 1860.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LYMAN A. CLARK, of the city of Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Nut-Crackers, as a new article of manufacture; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction, character, and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which make part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of the complete instrument as ready for use. Fig. 2 is a section of the working part of the same out vertically through the center.

My improvement consists in making the nut-cracker with one stationary jaw, in the concave surface of which the nut is to rest, and one movable or vibrating jaw, which is to be forced down by a cam lever, acting on an inclined plane, to crack the nut, and when the cam-lever is raised the vibrating jaw will be thrown up by an appropriate double spring, properly attached to it.

I make the frame or body A, A, of cast iron, or any other suitable material, substantially in the form shown in Fig. l, with the lower or stationary aw B, Figs. l and 2, cast solid or in one piece with it.

I make the movable or vibrating jaw C, of cast iron or any other suitable material, substantially in the form shown in Fig. l, with a roughened concave surface, as indicated in section in Fig. 2. On the upper surface of this vibrating jaw I fit a hardened steel inclined plane, as shown at d, for the cam to act on, and I attach the rear end of the lever on which it vibrates to the frame by a joint pin, as shown at a, Fig. 2, and indicated at a, Fig. l. I throw this vibrating jaw up by means of the spring shown at b, Fig. 2.

I make the cam-lever D, of malleable cast iron or any other suitable material, substantially of the shape represented in Fig. 1, its front end being made in the cam shape as shown at f, Figs. l and 2, and caused to work on a fulcrum, or joint, pin, as shown at c, Figs. 1 and 2, and in this cam f, I may lit a screw, as shown at e, by means of which I can readilyi'it the instrument for cracking very small nuts, as when the screw e passes down through the cam so that its lower end will rest, or move, on the inclined plane d, as shown in Fig. 2, the jaw C will be forced down much lower by the same motion of the cam lever.

Having constructed the several parts as before described and arranged them as represented in the drawing, I place the nut to be cracked in 'the concave space in the lower jaw B, (holding it steady with the thumb and finger, if necessary.) I then, with the other hand, bring down the rear end of the lever D, when the cam part f, acting on the inclined plane cl, will force down the vibrating aw C onto the nut and crack it, and by raising the lever D the spring b will throw up the vibrating jaw C, and the instrument will be ready for another operation.

The advantages of my improvement consist, in part, in that, while it is as efficient and as readily used as any heretofore known, it does not need to be attached to a table or other article, as is the case with the more powerful kinds, and it requires but a small portion of the strength of the hand in working it, which is necessary in using such as are readily handled, as this may be, and this is lit for the dining or parlor table, as it may be made an ornament to either.

I am aware that stationary and vibrating jaws have been used for ages, and that cams and inclined planes are also very old. I therefore do not claim either of these, as such, as my invention; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of the cam-lever, with the inclined plane, when these are combined with the vibratory, and stationary, jaws, and the whole is constructed, arranged, and

made to operate, substantially, as herein described.

L. A. CLARK. Vitnesses:

CHAs. W. CURTISS, R. FITZGERALD. 

